Items tagged with Google Maps
Is your daily commute stressing you out? According to Google's historical Maps data, daily commutes during rush our traffic can be up to 60 percent longer than what drivers expect at the beginning of their drive. To help with this, Google is rolling out new features to Google Maps aimed specifically at helping drivers take control of their commute. Google is in somewhat of a unique position to analyze daily communities and understand the frustration that many drivers go through. Google Maps tallies more than 1 billion monthly active users, giving the company plenty of data points to work with....
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Google Maps is widely used all around the world and it has recently been pumped full of new features, like personalized recommendations. Google is adding another feature that at first glance might seem silly. This feature sends details on how much battery charge is left on your smartphone when you share your location with someone. Why would they care how much battery life is left on your device? Parents who have kids share their location with them during transit times to and from school or a friend's home will find the battery life feature useful. A parent would be more at ease if a child...
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Google has been working hard to add new features to Google Maps over the last few months to make the app even more useful to people. June saw both incident reporting and augmented reality navigation features added for users in some areas. Google Maps is now becoming more motorcycle friendly in some countries. In the U.S. there are a substantial number of motorcyclists that ride all over the country, but the fastest growing areas for motorcycles is in some Eastern Asia markets. Google Maps has rolled out an update in some of those Eastern Asia locations that adds a new "motorcycle" option....
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Something interesting is going on with Google Maps regarding a “new” feature. Some people are claiming they have had this feature for a long time, others are seeing it for the first time. The feature in question is incident reporting, something that has made navigation app Waze popular with users. Google has long had traffic information integrated, but data on road work and closures hasn't been part of the app for most users. While some users are claiming, according to reports, to have had incident reporting for a year or more, others haven’t had it at all. I personally use...
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Back in May during Google I/O the search giant announced that a Material Design revamp of Google Maps was coming. At the time, only a few users and devices were able to get access to the update. Google is now slowly rolling that update out to the masses. Google's fancy Material Design redesign is rolling out to users who are currently running Maps 9.80.2 according to reports. The update is significant enough that you will know when it has been applied because there are major interface changes. Maps gains new buttons and colorful icons on a mostly white background in the update. Other features coming...
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It's April 1 and this day makes many of us around these parts skeptical about oddities we find online. Google is doing something that at first glance seems like an April Fools joke, but it’s a legit thing that might keep your kids (and you) entertained while all those Easter Eggs are being hidden in the yard. Most will be familiar with Where's Waldo, the red and white stripped hide-and-seek master from books and posters growing up. Google and Waldo have teamed up to let you try and find him using Google Maps. Waldo wrote, "I’m always on the lookout for fantastic new places to explore....
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Google has announced that it is launching some new Google Maps APIs that will be a big deal for mobile game developers and studios. Google is now offering a way that will allow game developers to build real-world games using Google Maps. This means that a mobile game can best set in an environment that looks exactly like your city. Google wrote, "Game studios can easily reimagine our world as a medieval fantasy, a bubble gum candy land, or a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic city. With Google Maps’ real-time updates and rich location data, developers can find the best places for playing games,...
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Update, 3/10/2018 - Google's Super Mario Kart guidance feature is now live. Let's-A-GO! Google often brings themed additions to its wildly popular Google Maps navigation app to celebrate pop culture. We’ve seen it previously with nods to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and last year with a Ms. Pac-Man shout-out. This time around, Google is showing some love for Nintendo’s most iconic character: Mario. Tomorrow is Mario Day, as in March 10th or Mar10, and to celebrate, Mario will take over as your directional guide in the Google Maps app. When punching in your destination, a yellow...
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Disney's theme parks are wonderful places to visit, and that it true whether you are a young child who is eager to meet characters like Mickey Mouse, or an adult who just wants to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a bit. Taking a vacation to one of the parks is also an expensive endeavor. While it is not the same thing, you can now take a stroll through Disneyland and Disney's other theme parks through Google Maps using its Street View technology. Zooming in with Google Maps and looking at 360-degree photos is obviously a very different experience than actually visiting a theme...
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One of the great things about navigation apps on our smartphones is that they help us to easily get from Point A to Point B without having to really think much about it. They can automatically reroute you to save time, and take you through some off-the-beaten-path routes to avoid more congested roadways. The non-discriminatory nature of navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze means that some relatively low-traffic locales have now become bumper-to-bumper nightmares. Such is the case with the small New Jersey town of Leonia. The quiet community is a suburb of New York City and has a population...
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Google Maps is now better than it was a month, week, or even a day ago. In a blog post, Google outlined some changes it made made to its maps program, including updates to Google Maps' driving, navigation, transit, and explore maps to better highlight the information it believes is most relevant to each experience, such as gas stations for navigation, train stations for transit, and so forth. "The world is an ever-evolving place. And as it changes, Google Maps changes with it. As roads close, businesses open, or local events happen in your neighborhood, you’ll see it on Google Maps. When you schedule...
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Google Maps is making it easier than ever to get you to your destination. The Google Maps Interface has added street view images to the directions. The directions screen on Google Maps will now show thumbnails from “Street View”. If the user taps on the image, they will get a 360° view and Street View will direct users to the location of the turn. The thumbnail will also be correctly oriented in the direction the user is going and will therefore point users in the right direction. Google has also added a few skin-deep alterations to the interface. Some screens will now include a bottom bar with...
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April Fool’s Day isn’t until tomorrow, but many companies are already cashing in on the festivities on the last work day of the week. Google is getting in on the action by transforming its incredibly popular Google Maps application into a digital playground for Ms. Pac-Man. Google last pulled off this “prank” back in 2015, and this year’s revival is in keeping with the same formula. Bringing up Ms. Pac-Man is super easy; all you need to do is open up the Google Maps app on your iOS or Android device, after which you will see a new Ms. Pac-Man button above the standard “Location” and “Navigation”...
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Google is adding a new feature to its Maps service that parents are going to love and teenagers may loathe—it's the ability to share real-time location tracking data with select individuals or groups, along with an estimated time of arrival to whatever the destination might be. While that may sound like an invasion of privacy, it is completely optional and is something that might prove handy in a variety of situations. Tracking your teen driver as he or she heads out to a concert or some other event is just one example. Maybe you have relatives visiting from out of state—being able to track their...
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